New Interpretative Centre at Battle of Culloden Sites
The year 2007 has been designated "The Year of Highland Culture," so what better time to memorialize the battle that took place on a windswept and barren moor at Culloden on April 16, 1746. That battle shaped Scottish history and a great many "Scots-Americans" will find that their families' migration was a result of the Battle of Culloden.
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SITE of the Battle of Culloden 1746. Culloden is on the east coast of Scotland, just a few miles east of Inverness.
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The National Trust for Scotland now thoughtfully administers the evocative site and they are planning for The Battle of Culloden and its aftermath to be objectively presented in an innovative new visitor center, scheduled to open in late 2007.
HISTORIC BATTLE
This defining moment in Scottish history, which is so ingrained in the collective Scottish consciousness, realistically ended the Jacobite hopes of restoring the exiled Stuart dynasty to the throne of Britain.
In less than one bleak hour - the time it takes visitors today to walk around the battlefield - 9,000 Hanoverian governmental forces led by the Duke of Cumberland roundly defeated the 5,000 troops of Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie).
The brutal measures imposed after the battle signalled the end of the distinctive way of life and culture of the Highlands people of Scotland. Highland villages were laid waste, livestock was confiscated and sold. Bagpipes were designated "weapons" and along with all other arms had to be surrendered.
The wearing of tartans or kilts and the speaking of Gaelic was forbidden. In the years following the battle, many highlanders sought to begin new lives around the world. Many of them crossed the Atlantic and were among the first "Scots-Americans."
After the battle, Bonnie Prince Charlie would spend five months on the run in the Highlands and Islands while government troops scoured the country for him and government ships patrolled the sea.
The hardships and hazards of his life as a hunted fugitive, the narrow escapes and the unbending courage of his faithful supporters, has become the stuff of legend: It was during this time that Flora Macdonald helped Charles back to Skye from North Uist.
Disguised as her Irish maid, "Betty Burke," he left North Uist in a boat rowed by Jacobite loyalists. This voyage was forever immortalized in the The Skye Boat Song. Flora married Alan Macdonald in 1750 and they emigrated to America. They lost everything in the American War of Independence and returned to Skye where she died in 1790.
Prince Charles finally fled to France on September 19,1746, sailing from Arisaig on the West Coast of Scotland. He was never to return to Scotland and died in Rome in 1788.
Today, the graves of the Clans lie on either side of the remains of a road, which was created across the site in 1835. Approximately 1,000 clansmen lie here. Culloden Battlefield today is a place of quiet remembrance, where many visitors each year leave posies of heather; it is a fitting open-air monument to a haunting tragedy.
The National Trust for Scotland has a project underway to enhance the visitor experience and educate international travellers about this crossroads in Scottish history. A new Visitor Centre is scheduled to open later this year.
NEW VISITOR CENTRE AND THE APPEAL
A new world class visitor centre will open later this year to cater to the over 200,000 visitors the site receives each year. The innovative centre will tell this complex story in a balanced way and allow visitors to draw their own conclusions about the Jacobite uprising, the battle and its consequences. Throughout the construction period the old centre will remain open.
Mindful of sustainability and environmental considerations locally sourced oak and Caithness stone will feature prominently in the new construction. Heating will be via a biomass plant. The centre is being built on a gentle slope, which while close to, is nearly invisible from, the battlefield itself.
The National Trust for Scotland (which owns the site) has launched an international appeal to raise $3.6 million to complete this project. They hope that Americans and Canadians of Scottish ancestry will want to be a part of this historic endeavour and make a donation - perhaps by purchasing a Culloden Stone.
The Culloden Stones, enduring signs of support, which can be engraved with a brief message or a name, will be laid in the approach to the new Visitor Centre. The cost of stones (from US$135 per stone) purchased for the Culloden walkway are 100 percent tax deductible. The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA is a 501 (3), tax-exempt charitable organization.
For more information and to become a part of this important undertaking, visit www.ownthestone.org, or write to: The Culloden Battlefield Experience, 37 West 28th Street New York, NY 10001. Or, if you prefer call 866-917-STONE.
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